This is the best I can be
by moonbird
Summary: one shot based on the first Annual Darkwing duck comic book..   Claire thinking back at her days with Quackerjack.


_This story is based on the annual Darkwing Duck comic book which one of my readers were kind enough to guide me to a link where I could read it.. though, I found the thing to be so beautiful that I am most differently going to order it and have it shipped so I can have it in my hands, It's simply to good to just sit and read on a computer and the Darkwing Duck comics are differently worth supporting, which would mean, actually pay for the stuff. _

_If you haven't read the annual yet, go out and find it! It's even written by bloody Tad Stone, who is the original creator of the series, and you can differently fell it, it's a man with talent. The story belongs to Quackerjack and exploit his character, it's beautifully tragic.. just, go find it and support the comics! _

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><p>"Have you seen Jacky?" Claire was talking to the stuffed doll that looked like a jester. "There's thunder outside, you love thunder, it just sets the right mood." She enquired as she carefully picked up the doll. "You want to watch?" she asked kindly the doll. "Of cause you do, I also think you've been sitting long enough there." And she went to the window to gently put down the doll and placed herself beside him looking outside. "Your actually right, this thunder thing is gorgeous, and the rain to, you know what we need?" she asked. "That's right! Hot choco, don't move I'll be right back! Yeas of cause there will be pink marshmallows in them who do you think I am?" Claire asked the doll before she turned around and walked towards her kitchen. "Why can't you ever trust me with the coco?" she asked. "I know how you like it! I swear." And first as Claire had gotten into the kitchen and far away from the doll did she sink together, sniffed in a tear and wiped away from her cheek. "I can make the damn coco as you like it."<p>

_It was Claires first day at Quackerwerks, and as always she was pretty nervous when going some-where new.. she was kind of a grey mouse, no one to take notice of, which made it ironic that it was the toy department she had ended up working in, but what could she say? The colourful playful objects spoke to her, the thought of making children laugh with real toys, she had never been a fan of the computer.. it just wasn't the same and children who was lost in front of the screen wasn't the same, it just made her so depressed to see those children sitting all day and night in front of the screen, whilst two boys running around with plastic swords and action figures made her smile.. she didn't know how suited she was for this though, she wanted to be a player but her better half kept her abbey, she was an adult after all. _

_Nervously Claire stepped into her Kubrick office, holding a recently bought plastic cup of coco to calm her nerves as her new boss spoke to her. "And this is the place where you tell us all of our ideas." Her new boys, a snazzy type with a tie.. and little sense of humour told her, lord knew what he did in the toy department. "Good luck." He at last greeted her in a none caring tone before he shrugged and walked away._

_Claire was left to look a bit blankly at the computer screen.. it was not like she was known for her grant colourful imagination.. she was kind of a boring person.. what to write? .. what to. _

"_Oh joy oh joy!" a cheerful voice sounded just outside her cubric. "Thank you so much sir! I swear you wont regret it!" the voice was just so filled with genuine happiness that Claire couldn't help but smile because of it, curiously Claire pocked out her head to be faced with the happy duck who was now shaking their boss's hand rather violently as he grinned all over his face, and not one of those sleak grins you would usually see on someone's face who tried to sleash them selves in, but a genuine happy childish grin that made him beam and smile and was so genuine that it couldn't be helped but rub off on not only Claire, but the cubric people as well he had also poked their head out and smiled amused at the odd duck wearing a jesters hat. Odd he was indeed.. he was probably the oddest strangest individual Clare had ever seen, from his complexion to his huge teethes.. to that Jester hat he seemed to fancy wearing just for the sake of it.  
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"_Well, I'm sure Mr. Quacker." The boss at last managed to rescue his hand. "Go to work."_

"_Yeas sir!" the jester duck saluted in a grin. "Thank you sir!" he beamed. _

_And their boss made his mistake. _

_The Jester eyed all of the amused people who looked at him. "Hullo fellow toy appreciators!" he happily waved at all of them. "I'm Jacky Quacker!" he proudly announced. _

_A dog furrowed his brows. "Aren't you…" he suddenly halted. "No wait." The dog gulped. "Never mind."_

"_What?" Jacky asked._

"_Please forget I asked!" the dog pleaded, almost begged in a frightened voice. _

_Jacky sighed deeply. "All right look, better get over with this! Yeas I used to be one of the most wanted, yeas I am Quackerjack, but I only did it because I was driven to it!" he exclaimed. "But now! I've gotten a new chance! I don't need to do anything, so you don't need to be afraid!" he exclaimed. _

_People still looked a little nervous at him. _

"_As I recall you were also the founder of QuackerJack toys long before you went rouge." Claire commented. _

_Jacky's head snapped around looked surprised at her. "That's right." He looked oddly at her. _

"_That was some wonderful toys." Claire commented. "Beautifully detailed, what happened to that?" she asked. _

_Quackerjack hung with his head. "Shut down." He mumbled. "We were run out by the Whiffle boy marked, no one wanted to buy any toys so as the debt grew the bank took over and sold the factory by force." _

"_Oh." Claire looked sympathetically at him. "Oh I'm sorry, and you started that factory from scratch."_

"_yeah, it was my lives work." Jacky sighed. "But!" he looked up with a grin and clasped his hand together. "This is a chance send from heaven to start all over again!" he grinned. "My toys! My toys will be in production again! Real toys, jack in the boxes, dollies! Cowboy guns! Isn't it wonderful?" he asked her. _

_Claire couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. "It certainly is." She grinned before taking a sip of her coco. _

"_Hey what are you drinking?" suddenly Jacky was beside her snatching the plastic cup away from her. _

"_urh.. Coco." Claire hesistated. "I am not that much of a coffe person.. but erh."_

"_Nothing wrong with Coco, coco is great, Coco is wonderful! Marvoules!" he gestured with his arms making Claire chuckle. "but not this crap." Quackerjack sniffed to the cup. "When drinking coco it needs to be prober Coco I tell you!" _

"_And what would prober coco be?" Claire asked lifting an eyebrow at him._

"_What indeed?" Quackerjack asked handing back the cup. _

_Claire chuckled._

"_You laugh a lot." Quackerjack commented happily. _

"_That's only because your such amusing refreshing company mr. Quacker." She responded. _

"_Please! Jacky to you!" Quackerjack enquired. "Please oh please, so we can be friends! I hope we can be friends.."_

"_Claire." Claire told. "I'm Claire." She told. "And sure, but erh." She looked around. "I think it's a bad idea to be slacking on the first on the job." She whispered. _

"_By golly your right!" Quackerjack exclaimed. "That's not a way to start working, but I'll be seeing you neighbour!" he greeted happily as he most literately jumped into his cubic and onto his chair in front of his computer, stretching out his hands and then started typing as some kind of maniac. _

_And he really worked as a maniac, there sounded constant typing and constant cheerful giggles from his cubic.. he didn't even go to a break.. or it had to be a very small one, because as Claire returned to her cubic and started typing, her hand suddenly brushed a cup, surprised she looked down at a huge red mug a large pink bow rapped around it and on the bow a little note. "That's real Coco for you, Jacky." It wrote, amused Claire looked down in the mug and saw that it indeed was filled with coco and had marshmallows in it, carefully she took a zip and tasted the round deep taste. "Mmm." She licked her lips. _

"_Good isn't it?"_

_Claire looked up to see Jacky lean over the wall so he could look down on her.. he would have to stand up on either his table or his chair. _

"_It's delicious." Claire smiled. "What's your secret?"_

"_Now now, if I told people all of my secrets I would have nothing to surprise them with later." Jacky told. _

"_Oh please." Claire shook her head. "I bet every day with you would bound to be a surprising adventure, you're really something." _

"_Crazy?" Jacky. _

"_Urh.." Claire hesitated. "That's not what I…" _

"_It's all right, I am crazy." Jacky sighed. "What would you say if I told you that I just miss Mr. Banana brain so much! I mean this is perfect, a perfect new start, soon I'll probably be climbing the ladder and run this place, but I miss my little buddy, it's like my chest is hurting all the time." _

_Claire blinked and then put down her mug and stood up on her chair so they were suddenly the same height. "I would say it's very human to fell lonely. Especially when everything is taken from you." She touched his chin. "And as for the crazy part, well way better being that and funny than gray and boring, I kind of wish I had to guts to be as crazy as you, it's fun, more stuff should be fun." She retrieved her hand and looked at him. _

"_You sure are nice." Jacky commented. "Not like all those people who wants to fix me all the time. " _

"_Fix you?" Claire looked surprised at him. "I know I don't really know you but.. what the hell is it exactly they want to fix?" _

_Jacky smiled all over. "Thank you." He simply said as he slipped back down on his chair. _

"_Thanks for Coco!" Claire greeted as she also slipped back. _

Back in her kitchen Claire gathered strength, she remembered how happy Jacky had been, more happy than any other people always being a constant source of energy and inspiration to the people around him.. the dolly in the window facing outwards had a permanent sad expression on his face, forcing herself to smile Claire went back beside the doll and place one of the mugs beside him while she herself nodded to the other one. "You know, this whether is just like that time you took me to Tivoli." She nodded. "That was actually fun despite the whether.. a lot of fun, damn we became wet.. but just insisted that having fun means just going with it.. I never had so much fun as after I met you, Jacky." She leaned down. "I miss you, I miss how you make me smile. You want to go out in the rain perhaps?" she picked up the doll looking at it in her hands looking at it's sad face. "No, I don't think it's such a good idea to try our luck getting you wet!" she decided. "But you know what day it is tomorrow? Circus day! That's right, we are going to circus together!" She picked up the doll, twirled a few times around before she sat back on the couch hugging it.

_It was one of those regularly boring days.. Claire was going home to her silent house.. to spend the night alone, perhaps watching some television.. read a book, and that was it. Jacky stopped her in the hall way. "You look sad." he commented. "I don't like it when you look sad." that was him all right, always so straight forward. _

_"Oh it's nothing." Claire muttered. "Most litterately it's just nothing." she looked up at him. "Going home that's all."_

_"What?" Jacky asked. "Going home! when there is a whole world out there to explore?" he asked. "A whole world out there to play in?"_

_"Well urh.." Claire hesistated. "Yeas.."_

_"That wont do at all!" Jacky stated. "Come on! life should be lived!" he simply grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, she couldn't help but laugh all the way as she was pulled out of the building and through the streets. "Where are we going?" she asked. _

_"It's a surprise." Quackerjack snickered as he pulled her with him up on a bus._

_Claire amused shook her head. _

_"So." Jacky sat down on a bus seat. "Is there any special time you need to be home for bed?" he asked as Claire sat down beside him._

_Claire lifted an eyebrow. "I am an adult you know." she pointed out._

_"Pff, adults are boring." Jacky told. "They don't know how to play, they just stop and then forget."_

_"Afraid your right." Claire told. "But that's how it is to grow up."_

_"You don't need to!" Jacky told. "You decide, you don't to let other drag you down, come on." he lead her out of the bus again and Claire suddenly found they stood in front of play world.. worlds biggest play land for children filled with climbing walls and swings, she hadn't been there since she was a child. "It's time for fun!" Jacky pulled her inside._

_And it had been funny, hillariously funny! Claire had thought it would be embarrassing but when they were two it was not so bad as they tumbled around, laughing and giggling with each other. "Tomorrow we go see Starlight Express!" Jacky told. "I love that show, with all the roller blades and the costumes! theatre should be fun, I hate that boring stuff." _

_"Sounds nice." Claire smiled as they walked towards the bus, holding hands. "I would like that." she hesistated as the bus come her way. "Look, I was thinking." she hesitated. "I am going home to an empty house, your going home to an empty house.. what if we both went to the same house so it would be empty."_

_Jacky looked confused down at her. _

_"Come home with me." Claire asked. "You can make me some of your Coco."_

_Jacky smiled all over, one of his huge genuine smile that made him beam and rubbed off. "I hate being alone." he admitted._

And so they had ended, sitting in this very couch as Claire sat in now with the doll, drinking their Coco, her leaning towards him and him.. well he smiled fondly at her, why did he have to look so sad now? It was like the dolly regretted it.. how everyone was now calling Claire crazy, not only because she had been the girlfriend of a supposed insane clown.. but because she now had a doll looking like him with her every where! simply everywhere. As she walked in the street his head would pop up from her pocket, as she picked out clothes she asked the dolls opinion, which meant she actually often ended up in pretty colourful attire, at her work the doll would be sitting on her desk so it could see, sometime should point it's face at the window so it could enjoy the view, she would ask the doll questions, take it to the movies where she saw cartoons.. Jacky liked cartoons. Yeah, it was probably now wonder they called her crazy Claire.

_"For real, are you serious?" A co-worker asked Claire. "Your dating the clown?"_

_"He's sweet." Claire shrugged. _

_"Dangerouse is more like it." the mouse told. "You heard about the incident?"_

_"So he got carried away with the firepower in his toy tank, he's just very enthusatic." Claire told._

_"Erh, I was more thinking about his fitt when he trashed the Wiffle game Danny had bought for his son in the Cantina and then shouted at Danny for supporting it.. " the mouse told. "The clown was almost breaking Danny's neck, it took five of us to keep him back."_

_"Oh." Claire blinked. "Well erh, he's gone through a lot, it takes time to get over it."_

_"Over it? The man is crazy!" _

_"He is not!" Claire defended. "He's just.. he's just worked up, he's."_

_"Claire listen." the mouse sighed. "The man is dangerous, I admit he is both great fun and likeable, he can be charming if he wants to be, but he is mental, he should have been at a mental institution not a working place with decent people, and you shouldn't get so close to him, it's to dangerous." _

_"He needs me." Claire responded. "No one needed me before, not like him..He needs my support to get better, and he will."_

_"It's getting worse everyday."_

_"So it gets worse before it gets better?" Claire asked._

_Just then Jacky made his appearance. "Better?" his voice echoed. "You want me to be fixed?" he asked a little disbelieving. _

_"Jacky no!" Claire was by his side. "That's not what I meant."_

_"Then what did you mean?" Jacky seemed rather hurt._

_"That your a good person, you can be such a good man." Claire fixed his tie. "The best, smartest, funniest, enlightened most interesting man in the world, you don't need fixing." she kissed him on the cheek. "You just need to know what a good person you can be." _

_But it didn't help, he still just looked as sadly at her.. and that was the thing with him, you knew what emotion dominated him, either he was happy and he would really be happy, or he was angry and he was just angry.. and now, he was sad, and Claire didn't know what to do to stop it._

"You know what we need?" Claire asked the doll. "Not watching stupid tely, you hate that technology who can blame you?" she asked. "We should dance!" and she turned on the radio and made her own wild dance with the doll, for a moment enjoying herself so much that shouldn't stop herself from laughing out loud, your supposed to life your live dummy!_  
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"_Dance with me Claire!" Jacky simpled grapped her and twirled her around.. it was true, every moment of every day with Jacky was about having fun, without caring what other thought, she had never been this free before.. there didn't need to be an occasion, he just felt like dancing so he did._

_Claire chuckled before they both lost balance and they tumbled down on top of each other laugh their hearts out, that was until Jacky silenced. _

"_Jacky?" Claire asked. "Sweety what is it?" _

"_That Rapier." He gloomed as he looked straightforward. "Look at him! That kiss ass, rather moving up the ranks than stay true to our course."_

"_Oh.." Claire glanced at the duck who hadn't seemed them yet, who had been working with in their apartment.. until recently as he had gotten a promotion. And Rapier had even been one of Jackies favorite people, the man was even a collector of doll houses, something Jacky had admired in him, but now hatred and a sense of betrayal loomed in Jacky's eyes. "Perhaps we should make him pay… make him taste his own medicine."_

"_Jacky please!" Claire interrupted. "We just had such a good time."_

"_But Claire!" he looked at her. "He shouldn't be allowed to play when he's such a traitor."_

"_Jacky listen!" Claire took his hands and looked him into the eyes. "Why make him spoil your play time?" she asked. "He is not worthy for that is he? Just ignore him, you deserve to have fun, with me. Don't let them spoil your fun." _

"_But they are stealing my stuff." Jacky complained. "My ideas, and then they wont give me credit." _

_Claire bit her beak.. things were starting going wrong with Jacky, he was becoming more and more unstable… and he could be so good. Dreadfully Claire remembered the several promotions she herself had been offered, naturally she had declined them all plus keeping it a secret she had gotten the offer at all, not being able to bear the thought of what Jacky could do did he ever find out. _

_But he did find out.. he found one of the letters and one day he stood in the opening of her cube a dark shadow over his face. "You've gotten promoted." He stated._

_Claire gulped. "I didn't accept." She told. _

"_Then why are you being transferred?" Jacky asked. "We are the only two left, I thought we were partners, how could you do it?" he asked. _

"_What?" Claire asked. "Transferred? Since when?" she asked. _

"_Don't play games with me." Jacky stated. "Everyone talks about it.. and they are laughing behind me back! At me! They are saying your only with me so you can steal my ideas."_

_Claire gaped. "That is not true!" she exclaimed. _

"_Then explain this!" Jacky threw a dolly at her. "It's going to production now, under your name, and that's my design!"_

"_But I didn't.." she looked at it as it clicked in her mind. "Jacky it's a set up!" she exclaimed. "They want you to flip don't you see, they are trying to drive you mad!"_

"_No!" Jacky hold himself to the head. "You're the one lying, everyone says so! And you'r even disagreeing with me! Telling me to stop when I want to punish the others, Mr. Banana brain would never do that! Your holding me back! you were holding me back from the beginning!" he yelled. "Stop that Jacky, don't do that Jacky, ignore Jacky, Jacky Jacky Jacky!" he ranted. "I'm sick it, sick! They need to pay for being so narrow minded for trashing me every step I take, but will you let me! noooo, __Mr. Banana brain would have supported me!"_

"_I am supporting you!" Claire stood up. "Jacky, your everything to me! I didn't know how to life live before you."_

"_Liar!" Jacky pointed at her. "You used me.. used me for your own evil ends, just like everyone else! Also the villains but at least they are decent enough to say it to my face! And they are not keeping me away from punishing the real villains as you do! They need to be punished! All of them in here!" he gestured at the grant office. "They need to suffer, that's the only thing fair, Mr. Banana brain! Where are you?" he called out as he twirled around. "I'm so sorry I tried to forget you and put you behind me, It's her fault! She distracted me!" he pointed at Claire. "Mr. Banana brain!" he called out again as he started running, ripping off his business suit to reveal a full jester costume. "I'm back! I'm back doing what I should have been doing all this time!" _

"_JACKY!" Claire ran after him. "Jacky wait! Don't!" but he jumped out of a window and as Claire finally reached it he was long gone.._

"Jacky." Claire whispered again picking up the doll as she hugged it close rocking back and ford. "You don't need to be lonely, don't look so sad I'm glad you're here, because then I am not lonely any-more." She told the doll. "And look at all the stuff I am doing, mountain climbing, that sure was wild.. I wouldn't have had the guts if it weren't for you.. I would just be home all day watching telly, now I life live, so you can see to, you taught me that, I'm happy you're here, And I'm happy you found your way back to me.. I really am, now please smile.. Smile for me, Jacky, I'm always with you." She kissed the doll on the cheek, and as she sat him on her night stand.. She couldn't help but gasp, as she surprised noted.. The doll was smiling.


End file.
